Safety side guard for hospital beds

ABSTRACT

A GENERALLY RECTANGULAR SAFETY SIDE GUARD PIVOTALLY MOUNTED UPON THE MATTRESS FRAME OF A HOSPITAL BED AND MOVABLE AROUND THE PIVOTAL MOUNTINGS FROM AN ELEVATED GUARDING POSITION TO A LOWERED INOPERATIVE POSITION. STOPS ARE PROVIDED TO LIMIT MOVEMENT OF SAID GUARD INTO SAID POSITIONS AND LATCH MEANS ARE PROVIDED TO SECURE THE GUARD IN ELEVATED POSITION.

June 22, 1971 F. J. BURST T AL SAFETY SIDE GUARD FOR HOSPITAL BEDS 3Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 15, 1969 F. J- BURST ET AL SAFETY SIDE GUARDFOR HOSP'I'IAL BEDS June 22, 1971 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 15, 1969United States Patent 3,585,659 SAFETY SIDE GUARD FOR HOSPITAL BEDSFrancis J. Burst and John M. Sharer, Batesville, Ind., assignors toHill-Rom Company, Inc., Batesville, Ind. Filed Oct. 15, 1969, Ser. No.866,683

Int. Cl. A47d 7/02 U.S. Cl. -331 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Agenerally rectangular safety side guard pivotally mounted upon themattress frame of a hospital bed and movable around the pivotalmountings from an elevated guarding position to a lowered inoperativeposition. Stops are provided to limit movement of said guard into saidpositions and latch means are provided to secure the guard in elevatedposition.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Hospital beds are usually provided with sideguards disposed alongside the mattress of the bed to prevent a patientin the bed from falling out of the bed. The mattress supporting frame ofa hospital bed usually consists of a seat section to one side of which agenerally U-shaped head section is pivotally attached. A thigh sectionof the frame is pivotally attached to the other side of the seatsection, and a generally U-shaped foot section is pivotally attached tothe thigh section. These frame sections are usually angle irons Whichsupport either the so-called spring fabric or the mattress platform ofthe bed.

The Burst et al. Pat. 3,772,017 discloses a safety side guard that isattached to the head section of the mattress frame and is slidablevertically from an upper guarding position to a lower non-guardingposition. This guard extends only from the head end of the head sectionof the frame to the seat section thereof.

The Pratt Pat. 2,817,855 discloses a guard frame pivotally mounted upona frame member of a bed and movable from an upper guarding position to alower unguarding position by rotating its supporting members around thepivotal mountings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a safety sideguard of the type shown in the Burst patent. The guard is mounted uponthe mattress supporting frame of the bed by mounting means that includestrunnions journalled in a mounting bracket that is fixed upon the frame.The guard is movable from an elevated guarding position to a loweredinoperative position, causing rotation of said trunnions in theirjournals. A spring pressed latch mounted in said bracket secures theguard in elevated position and stop means limit movement of the guardboth up and down. The mounting bracket is mounted on the frame and isdisposed well below the patient in the bed, hence, not readilyaccessible to the patient, although it is readily accessible to a nursewhen it is desired to lower the guard. The mounting of safety guards ofthe present invention on both sides of a bed does not increase the widthof the bed sufiiciently to prevent the bed from being moved through thedoor leading out of a patients room, should it be desired to make such amove.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of asafety side guard mounted upon the right hand side mattress frame of ahospital bed and disposed in elevated guarding position;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1, showing the guard in loweredposition;

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I FIG. 3 is a fragmentary back side elevational view drawn to anenlarged scale and showing the mounting bracket and elements thereofwith the safety side mounted upon the left hand side of the bed andsecured in elevated position.

FIG. 4 is a view simlar to FIG. 3 showing the guard in the loweredposition.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view along the line 55 of FIG. 3, looking inthe direction of the arrows;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view along the line 6-6 of FIG. 3, lookingin the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 77 of FIG. 3,looking in the direction of the arrows and drawn to an enlarged scale.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As will be seen best in FIG. 1,the side guard indicated generally at 10, consists of an upper portion11 and a bottom portion 12, which portions are joined together byarcuate end portions 13. It will be noted that the upper and lowerportions 11 and 12 are straight, and as will be seen in FIG. 5, arerectangular in cross section.

Fixed to, and extending bet-ween portions 11 and 12. are verticle bars14 and 15. It will be noted that bars 14 and 15 are located equidistantfrom the centers of portions 11 and 12.

Mounted upon the mattress frame rail 18 is a mounting bracket, indicatedgenerally at 19. As will be seen best in FIGS. 3 and 4, the mountingbracket consists of a front member 20 and a pair of back members 21,which are shaped to form a cavity within the bracket. As will be seenbest in FIG. 5, a trunnion 22 is journalled in suitable low frictionbushings 23. Fixed upon the trunnion 22, and disposed in the spacebetween front and back members 20 and 21, is a crank hub 24 to which acrank 25 is fixed. The hub may be fixed upon the shaft in convenientmanner, such as by a drive pin. A latch bar 26 is pivotally connected tothe crank 25 in convenient manner, such as by a pivot screw 27.

Fixed to the trunnion 22 is a link 30 which at its upper end is equippedwith a boss 31 that is threaded internally. The vertical member 14 ofthe guard is equipped with low friction bushings 32 through which acollared bolt 33 is threaded into the boss 31. A suitable lock tightplastic 34 extends through a hole in the boss 31 and engages the threadsof the bolt 33 to secure the bolt against unwanted loosening.

The trunnion 22, mounting thereof, and crank 25 arrangement justdescribed are duplicated, as indicated at 22' and 25' to receive a link35 that is pivotally connected to the vertical bar 15 in the justdescribed manner.

The mounting bracket is attached to the rail 18 by a clamp 36, intowhich a screw 37 is threaded. A knob 38 abuts against the mountingbracket as the screw is turned to tighten the clamp upon the rail 18.

As will be seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the latch bar 26 is pivotallyconnected at its opposite ends to crank 25 on the trunnion 22 and tocrank 25 on trunnion 22'.

Upstanding from the bottom of the front member 20 of the mountingbracket 19 are ears 40* through which a pin 41 is extended, the pin alsoextending through the latch 42 to pivotally mount the latch in thebracket. A spring 43 encircles the pin 41 and engages the latch 42 topush that latch outwardly of the bracket. As will be seen in FIG. 6, theram 45 of the latch 42 extends through an opening in the bracket member2.0 and terminates in a latch ear 46.

As will be seen in FIG. 3, when the side guard is in its elevatedposition, latch 42 registers with and extends into a keeper notch 44,located in the bottom edge of the latch bar 26. The upper edge of thelatch bar is provided with a recess portion 47 in which the latch arm 45is positioned and with the guard in uppermost position, it will be seenthat the arm 45 is located near the right-hand end of the notch 47, asseen in FIG. 3. The upper edge of the latch bar is equipped with a.generally U-shaped notch 48 which receives the trunnion 22 when theguard is in elevated position. The mounting bracket is equipped withshoulders 50 against which the upper edges of the latch bar 26 abut tolimit the upward movement of the side guard.

When it is desired to lower the side guard, the latch is pushed inwardlyagainst the tension of spring 43, thereby to clear it from the keepernotch 44. The guard can then be moved toward the head of the bed. Thismovement of the side guard toward the head end of the bed rotatestrunnions 22 and 22' counterclockwise through 180, as seen in FIGS. 3and 4. This rotation of the trunnions moves the cranks 25 and 25 to movethe latch bar 26 from the position in which it is shown in FIG. 3 to theposition shown in FIG. 4. As soon as latch bar 26 has been moved farenough to move the latch notch 44 out of registration with the latch 42,the latch engages the bottom portion of the bar 26 and need not be heldinwardly through the remainder of the operation. Since the latch barmoves downwardly in travelling from the position shown in FIG. 3 to theposition shown in FIG. 4, the member 20 of the mounting bracket isprovided with slots 51 located in its lower wall to provide necessaryclearance for the bottom edge of the latch bar. When the safety side isin its lowermost position, as shown in FIG. 4, trunnion 22 is disposedin the notch 49, and latch arm 45 is located at the lefthand end ofclearance notch 47. The upper edge of the latch bar 26 abuts against theshoulders 50 to limit downward movement of the safety side. Gravity willhold the safety side in its lowermost position.

As will be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the portions 11 and 12 of the sideguard are disposed parallel to rail 18 in all positions of the guard.The crank arm and link arrangement maintains the portions parallel tothe rail during movements of the guard. When the guard is in loweredposition, portion 11 is approximately aligned with rail 18, and theguard does not interfere with making the bed.

As will be seen best in FIGS. 3 and 7, the upper portions of the backmembers 21 engage the rail 18 of the mattress frame. The upper portionof front member engages the upper portions of members 21, and is securedthereto by spot welds. The bottom portions of members 21 are welded tothe flange on front member 20.

As will be seen best in FIGS. 3 and 6, the center portion of frontmember 20, between members 21, extends into the plane of rail engagingportions of members 21 so as to engage the rail 18. Ribs 55 stiffen thecenter portion of member 20 which extends upwardly and terminates in abent over portion 56 through which clamp screw 37 extends.

The safety guard shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is located on the left side of apatient in the bed. It will be noted that the center of the bracket 19is open between the back members 21, and to prevent the bedclothes fromcoming into contact with the mechanisms in the bracket, a cover 57 isattached to the bracket by screws threaded into members 21. It will alsobe noted that when the guard is in upper position, the cranks 25 and 25'extend from the trunnions 22 and 22', towards the head end of the bed.The keeper notch 44 in the latch bar is offset from the center of thebar towards the foot end of the bed a distance equal to the distancebetween the centers of the trunnions and the pivotal connections of thelatch bar thereto.

The length of the clearance notch 47 is slightly greater than the widthof latch arm 45, and is centered on the center of the latch bar 26. Thearm is positioned in the notch adjacent the foot end thereof when theguard is 4 in elevated position and adjacent the head end thereof whenthe guard is in lowered position.

The safety side of the present invention is provided in a right-handguard, as shown in FIG. 1, and a lefthand guard, as shown in FIGS. 3 and4. In both instances the cranks 25 and 25 extend towards the directionthat the guard is to move from elevated to lowered position. Guardsmounted upon the head section of the mattress frame are moved towardsthe head end of the bed when moved from elevated to lowered position. Aview of a right-hand guard similar to the view of the left-hand guardshown in FIG. 3 would have cranks 25 and 25' extending to the right ofthe trunnions and the latch bar would be turned end to end from theposition shown in FIG. 3.

In certain instances guards are installed at the foot end of a bed aswell as at the head end thereof. Foot end guards are moved towards thefoot end of the bed to lower the guard from elevated to loweredposition.

The side guard 10 may be made of anodized aluminum or chrome platedsteel, if desired, and the links and mounting bracket finished bypainting or plating, as desired. A bed with right and left side guardsinstalled thereon has an overall width sufficiently small to permit thebed to be moved through the door leading out of the patients room orward should such movement become necessary.

What is claimed is:

1. A safety side guard for hospital beds comprising (1) a generallyrectangular side guard having straight upper and lower portions joinedtogether by arcuate end portions;

(2) vertical bars fixed to and extending between said straight portions;

(3) a mounting bracket clamped upon a rail of the mattress supportingframe of the bed;

(4) a pair of trunnions journalled in said bracket;

(5) a link fixed upon each trunnion and pivotally connected to one ofsaid vertical bars;

(6) a crank fixed upon each trunnion;

(7) a latch bar pivotally connected to and extending between saidcranks;

(8) shoulder means on said bracket engaged by said latch bar limitupward and downward movements of said side guard;

(9) a keeper notch in the lower edge of said latch bar;

(10) and a spring pressed latch mounted in said bracket and registeredin said keeper notch to secure the guard in its uppermost position.

2. A safety side as specified in claim 1 in which the vertical bars arelocated equidistant from the centers of the upper and lower straightportions.

3. A safety side as specified in claim '1 in which the mounting bracketconsists of a front member and a pair of back members fixed theretoadjacent the ends of the front member.

4. A safety side as specified in claim 3 in which the back members areshorter than one half the length of the front member to provide a spacebetween said back members.

5. A safety side as specified in claim 4 in which each member has alower portion spaced away from the front member to provide a cavitywithin the bracket.

6. A safety side as specified in claim 5 in which there are alignedholes in the lower portions of the front and back members in each ofwhich holes low friction bushings are disposed to journal the trunnionsin the bracket.

7. A safety side as specified in claim 6 in which each trunnion carriesa crank hub fixed thereto in the cavity in the bracket to which hub thecrank is fixed to receive the end of the latch bar pivotally connectedthereto.

8. A safety side as specified in claim 1 in which the keeper notch inthe latch bar is offset from the center of 6 the bar toward the foot endof the bed a distance equal to References Cited the distance between thecenters of the trunnions and the UNITED STATES PATENTS pivotalconnections of the bar to the cranks. 9. A safety side as specified inclaim 1 in which the latch 3 22; Z includes a latch arm that extendsthrough an opening 1n 5 3,220,024 11/1965 Nelson 5 331 the front memberand terminates in a latch ear accessible to g g qg 1 9 h th BOBBY R.GAY, Primary Examiner saeys1easspec1e 1nca1m 1nw1c e latch bar includesa clearance notch that is twice as long CALVERT Asslstant Exammer as thewidth of the latch and is centered on the center 10 US. Cl. X.R. of thebar. 5--100

